Deep Within, There Is Always A Light
by Alcorion
Summary: A city torn between four gangs, two boys that fall in love. The constant fighting for a better world, or so they thought. Yaoi. AU. Main RikuxSora, minor AkuRoku, CloudxLeon. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi there

A/N: Hi there... I know I should probably be working on my other fic...but I'm stuck there... this idea has been bothering me for some time now so I decided to give it a try...but I should warn you... the updates will be few and far between... thanks to college and such...

This fic will be a RikuxSora later on...but it will manly revolve around Riku...there will also be some AkuRoku and CloudxLeon in there somewhere but it will be minor...some more pairings may come up as well...

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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It was a little after midnight at Traverse Town's train station. A cold place on an even colder city, in one of the trains that rested at the station was a boy, a boy that turned seventeen earlier that month. He was curled up in a ball trying to get as much warmth as he could, just like a small child would do, such an innocent demeanor was hard to come by in Traverse Town, most of its children were already tainted with its crimes.

The boy was running away, from a past he wished not to remember, but that would haunt him forever. Many did the same before him, a foolish attempt; little did he know... he should have stayed home.

As the boy was sleeping, a tall and lean figure stepped inside the confined space. The stranger was wearing tight blue jeans and a burgundy sleeveless hoodie; he had flaming read hair and tattoos under both eyes that resembled tears, a souvenir he got in his early years. The stranger was looking for anything that could be of some use for him, that's when the redhead spotted a curled up thing on the cold, hard floor. Curious as to what it was, he approached it with great care, for when someone lived on the streets as long as he had, one always knew not to let their guard down, not even if they were nearing something that looked like a beat down puppy.

A closer inspection proved that the "puppy" was actually a boy, a very small boy. Kneeling, the stranger poked him with his fingers. The little boy started whimpering and the redhead thought that maybe he was a puppy after all.

"Come on kid, you're gonna get the flu or something if you stay on the floor like that." Nothing, the redhead tried again. "Come ooon, I'm not going to leave you here to rot little fella, it would stay on my conscience... at least for a week anyways." With that he shoved the seventeen year old a little hard with his boot.

"Leave me alone bitch." What? Here I am trying to help the little punk and this is how he acts? The redhead thought.

"Fine, if you want to die be my guest, I didn't come here to waste my time on a brat like you." Suddenly the boy got up scared and looking everywhere until he remembered where he was and why.

"Sorry about that but, who are you?" He asked eyeing the taller boy suspiciously.

"Humph, that's okay I guess, name's Axel by the way. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" What a weird guy was all that was going through the other's mind. "And what's your name boy?"

"I'm not a boy! I'm seventeen, and my name is Riku."

"So tell me Riku, why are you here anyway? You ran away or something?"

"Yeah, but that's none of your business." That's when it hit him, _where_ was he exactly? Damn it, why he had to fall asleep? "Hum, which city is this?"

"Gee, you're really lost huh? This, my little friend, is the one and only Traverse Town! The city of a thousand lights!" Traverse Town? Shit! He definitely shouldn't have fallen asleep, this was the very last city the train would go, very far from Twilight Town where he came from. Well, the longer the distance the better right?

"Well... I guess it could be worse."

"Ha! Worse? You don't know half of it dude, this is the shitiest place to be."

"What? Why?"

"Here's a quick history lesson for ya, this city is full of the lowest kinds of assholes the society could produce, the most vile scum that walks the earth. This city is ruled by organized crime Riku." He was clearly shocked... he didn't want this, he was supposed to be at Hollow Bastion and not this violent place. If Axel was telling the truth, and he had no reason to believe otherwise, he was royally screwed. "Well... that lost look on your face tells me you are not used to this kind of thing right? But worry not; I like you kid and I will take you under my wing. I'll give you a quick explanation of how things work around here."

"I guess I don't have a choice; there is no turning back now. Go on." And so Axel started telling him the crude reality of Traverse Town.

Traverse Town was long ago taken over by a gang, that gang was led by brothers, Ansem (A/N: the one from kh 1, Xehanort's heartless) and Xemnas. They had complete control of the city, they had corrupted cops and politicians at the palm of their hands. Their mutual rule was not long though, the brothers fought for power even between them, Xemnas wanted utter control of the financial aspects as well as over the cops, while Ansem only wanted to be feared and to do as he pleased. Xemnas was disgusted by his brother's stupid antics and decided to kill him in order to gain control of Traverse Town, but Ansem was no fool and predicted his brother's betrayal. The gang was then torn apart, some siding with Xemnas and some with Ansem, they were at war constantly, and all the while the cops turned a blind eye to all the mayhem caused by this power struggle.

Eventually two more gangs appeared; they took advantage of the weakened forces of the brothers and assumed control of two parts of the city. And since that day all the four gangs fight constantly, but they never attack each other directly in fear of weakening themselves and allowing one of the other gangs to take control.

"Well, that's a pretty summed up version of it... but it will be enough for now. All I have left to say is this, if you want my friendship and my protection, you will have to join my gang, it's called AVALACHE, and we could use some extra hands if you know what I mean."

"What? No way, I'm not a criminal, and I'll surely not join some thugs thank you very much." Axel looked a little angry about what Riku said.

"You know nothing, yeah we may be a gang but we are no criminals, we only want to bring those bastards down so the people here won't suffer so much, and the only way to do that is by being a gang... since the cops are corrupted pigs and the governor doesn't care as long as he receives his share of the profit!"

"Hum, sorry, I didn't realize that, I though you guys were just a bunch of thieves and murderers, all the "gangs" at my old home were like that."

"It's okay, sorry if I got a little defensive there."

"No problem, but tell me... what are the other gangs' names?"

"Oh, right. Ansem's gang is called The Heartless, Xemnas' gang is known as Organization XIII and the other gang goes by Deepground. Deepground is formed up by a bunch of fascist bastards that want only the "pure" to rule the city; they are run by the Tsviets, a group of five psychos. So... have you decided if you will join us?"

"I guess I don't really have a choice in the matter, so yes... I'll join you guys."

"Heh, glad you chose the right option Riku... but it's not that simple, first you must be tested. Come on, follow me."

"Tested? What do you mean? Hey! Axel! Come back here and tell me what the hell you mean! AXEL!" Where did I get myself into?

To Be Continued...

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A/N: So...tell me what you guys think...is it good? Criticism will be greatly appreciated... how fast I update depends on the number of reviews I get... cause I tend to get discouraged easily...

Anyways... until next time and don't forget to review!!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hi there

A/N: Hi! It's been awhile but I guess none of you minded that right? Only 2 reviews for the last chapter made me a little unsure about this plot an all…….anyways….. here's another chapter….

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It was raining, a rare occurrence in Traverse Town. The people were caught off guard by the pouring rain, all of them running back inside or to somewhere they could find shelter, all but a young boy. He liked the rain; he thought the rain could wash everything bad a person carried in their soul, he would let the rain wash him whole because he was no pure boy, far from it, he was a sinner.

He was different from most people that lived in the 3rd District, people who didn't care about others, hypocritical bastards that soiled the streets. He was a sinner, but at least he tried to be good, he helped the orphans to live a little better and he hoped they wouldn't become criminals like most of the poor.

The rain was coming down hard enough to hurt, reluctantly he went inside the little home, and just as he entered two of the youngest orphans hugged him.

"Big brother! You arrived! Why were you in the rain big brother?" The boy smiled.

"I like the rain."

"But you will get a cold." The little girl said that in a tone she thought was disapproving. The boy smiled even more at the cuteness of the girl.

"Oh but if I get a cold you two will take care of me won't you Olette?" The girl grinned and nodded.

"Of course big brother!"

"Right, go now; it's time for your bath." The little girl giggled and went away with the other child. The little boy Pence was born mute, he and Olette were always together just like brother and sister even though they weren't blood related.

The boy stood and watched them go away, and then he started to walk to the room he shared with the orphans. The house was very old and falling to pieces day by day, the halls were painted a dull grey color, since all the old orphanages had grey walls to keep the children calm, the grey was very worn from time, so was the carpet and the ceiling. They had no money for repairs and lived of the donations of the government, but the money they received was barely enough for food and medical supplies. Most children grew old here since nobody from this part of town cared enough to adopt and the people from the other districts didn't dare to enter Ansem's territory uninvited.

The boy entered his room; he lived there with 5 other orphans. The beds were all lined up to the walls, tree at each side of the room. There was a wardrobe full of clothes the orphans had to share, and a chest with some broken toys for them to play with. The boy had his own chest with clothes by his bed. "Ah, I didn't know you had arrived." A beautiful young woman appeared behind him.

"What? You want me to send a letter or something telling you I'm coming back?" The woman smiled sadly.

"Of course not, but you know the kids love you here, they miss you."

"I don't need a lecture Aerith; I'm old enough to do as I please."

"I know, it's just, I worry about you too you know. This city is dangerous enough as it is, and with that tyrant Ansem…"

"Don't say shit about him Aerith, he may be cruel and ruthless sometimes, but he's still my dad, he took me from this same orphanage when no one else wanted me. And besides, even though we have a few homeless here and there, at least there has been a lot less deaths over the past years."

"Don't start talking about him like he is the governor Sora! You know he is a monster. He made you his personal slave and treated you like dirt." Sora got angry after this, sure his dad was a little on the rough side, but he had a kind heart deep down.

"FINE! Say what you want, I'm going out." Just as he was about to get out of the room Aerith grabs his arm and stops him. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you. You just got back; don't go away again, please." Sora looked at her with an unsure smile. "I'm sorry too, it's just…. It's been hard lately, I'll come back later." Aerith smiled again, without a trace of sadness left. "Okay, don't be late for dinner, I'll be making chicken tonight."

And with those words he went back outside, like most times he didn't have a clear path in his mind, he always went were his feet would take him. He found this walks very relaxing, even with the smoke of the cars clouding his vision and the smell of the sewers invading his nostrils.

Life in the 3rd District was not easy, the poor were constantly forgotten while the rich got even more power, Sora thought Governor Rufus Shinra was a bastard, he knew that if his dad was governor things would be a little different, a better different maybe, but a change was needed and soon, or this city would bleed out very fast.

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He finally left the train yard, _damn this big place_ he thought. Axel ignored all his questions completely; he just said he would know when the time arrived. A deep sense of dread filled Riku's mind as he followed Axel trough the maze of streets, he even could picture the people running about like rats trapped in a labyrinth trying to find the piece of cheese.

The part of town he was currently at, 2nd District Axel told him, was AVALANCHE's territory and the best place to live according to the redhead. He wasn't so sure, there were garbage everywhere and a few hobos that he could see.

"I don't get it, you say this is the best place to live in this town, but there's trash everywhere and people feeding of said trash, I mean, how could someone be happy here?" Axel looked at him a little angry and was about to yell at him when he remembered Riku was from Radiant Garden, a preppy place full of preppy people, so he couldn't blame him.

"Look, this place has its faults, sure, but we would be a lot better if we paid the douche governor a little extra for his services y'know. But we refuse to corrupt ourselves, therefore the governor neglects our part of town in retaliation."

"What? He can't do that, you should complain to someone who will fix things, take him out of office."

"It's not so easy as you think, anyways, I said this is the best place because we treat our people with dignity, we don't shit on them like the other clowns, especially Ansem… he is one insane fucker." Axel then looked behind him in Riku's direction. "Oh we're here."

Riku raised his head to get a better view of the building before him, 6 stories high, nice looking but not fancy. _This must be their lookout, they probably live here too. Very unusual for a hideout, then again, maybe they don't want to hide_.

They both stepped inside, the main hall was that of a hotel, furniture scattered all over the place. Riku didn't have much time to appreciate the place as Axel quickly dragged him to one of the elevators. Inside Axel pressed the button of the top floor. The ride was over quickly enough. They stepped out and Axel guided him to the door at the end of the hall, there was someone at the door, a bodyguard most likely.

"Hey there Barret, how are you in this fine day?" Axel shook hands with a very big man, muscular build, shaved head and a beard. That guy scared the shit out of him.

"Humph, I feel like crap you pyro, standing at this frickin' door all day."

"Well, next time you will learn not to upset the boss. Now, may I enter?"

"Sure, go on in."

The big man, Barret he remembered, opened the door for them. Just as he entered he was once again in shock, this was obviously the main room of the building, where the 'boss' as Axel called him was located. It was all very simple, cozy even, not what you would expect from a gang leader.

The walls were an olive green color, the carpet was of a pale red, and he didn't like it. There was no bed; instead there were a couple of desks and some big ass wardrobes, to stash weapons perhaps? Sitting at the largest desk was a spiky haired blond man, with a pair of deep blue eyes, from what he could see he was wearing some sort of army shirt. By his side was a tall man clad in leather pants and leather jacket, a brunet with a scowl on his face and a scar across his nose.

"Axel, who is this boy?" The blond man asked.

"Cloud, this is Riku. I found him on the train yard inside one of the cargo trains while I looking for… provisions. And since we are in need of more members, I brought him here." The man, Cloud, looked at Riku with distaste, Riku felt he was being examined from head to toe, he suddenly felt very shy, this man's gaze was very invasive.

"Fine, this kid seems a little strong, maybe with the proper training he could be useful to our cause. Let's test him." Axel nodded. "Sure thing."

"Wait, what? Tested? What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly like it sounds, you will fight someone and depending on your performance, you will be allowed in, but if you fail, well then you are all by yourself. Maybe you can try to join Xemnas' gang, I hear he is in need."

"Fight? But, who?" Axel grinned.

"You're going to clash swords to the one and only Flurry of Dancing Flames! The great, handsome and powerful Axel!" Shit, he was screwed.

To Be Continued…

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A/N: Wow that was a big one huh? At least for me it was, I hope I get a lot of reviews because I tend to get discouraged easily and the reviews would help a lot

Until Next Time Folks!


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